Garment press



Nov. l, 1927.

J. C. LEDBETTER GARMENT PREss Filed Sept. 19. 1925 INVENTOR lightweight, not

'Patented Nov. l, 19,27.

UNITED STATES JAMES CAMOD LEDBETTER, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 THEPROSPERITY COMPANY, INC., 0F SYBACUSE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION 0F NEWYORK.

GABMENT PRESS.

Application tiled September 19, 1925. Serial No. 57,264.

This invention relates to garment` presses and to operating mechanismtherefor, and more particularly relates to improved balancing means forthe movable press jaws or for the press head.

In garment pressing machines now largely in use, it is the custom ofpress manufacturers to mount the pressing head on one end of a longhorizontal press lever. This press lever rocks in a vertical plane on ahorizontal ulcrum axis to raise and lower a press head and this leverprojects rather tar back from the press frame and causes the press toreally occupymore floor space than would seem p necessary w1th anotherwise compact frame.

In order to balance the rather heavy head, it is necesary to mount aheavy weight on the other end of the press lever. This further increasesthe size of the machine and space consumed, and furthermore the weightmust be heavy if the head is to be balanced on a relatively short rearend lever arm.

It is not practical to increase the length of .the lever arm tocorrespondingly decrease the balancing weight for that would render themachine still more cumbersome and unsightly and require still morefloorspace.

According to my invention, it is not necessary to project the rear endof the lever to the rear of the press frame and thus be in the way butmy invention permits the press to be placed close to the wall or closeto another pressing machine and thus save floor space. s

In this improved press the rearwardly projecting, unsightly, large,heavy weight carrying, short integral lever arm is simply reversed inall these respects. It is made in two pieces geared together and theweight carrying section of the press lever is placed under the table ofthe press and carries a a heavy one, because the balancing arm is longerand possesses increased leverage. It is out of the way under the presstable. It projects inside the machine instead of to the rear.

' The accompanying drawing illustrates in partially diagrammatic formthe invention as adapted to a pressing machine. The press jaws are shownin closed and pressing position with the pedal down and the operatingmeans locked to maintain the jaws closed. f j

Referrin further to the drawing for a more deta' ed description of theinvention,

mechanism.

there is shown a press frame 10 on which a press table 11 is mountedtogether with a back board 12 to prevent the garment or other work beingpressed fromV falling to the rear of the press. Press jaws are mountedon the press frame and comprise the usual form of stationary buck 13 andmovable head 14. The jaws or press head and buck open wide to, admit thework. A jaw' carrying press arm 15 is xed to the head 14 at one end andis pivoted at 16 on the frame at the other end thereof. The press headarm 15 is preferably composed of a horizontal ortion 16 andsubstantially vertical portion 17 and the head 14 is lifted high abovethe buck 13 by swinging this arm. The lower end of the arm is madeintegrally with a gear 18orming part of the press operating A balancingarm 20 is mounted under the press table 11 with its forward endprojecting towards the front of the machine and its rear end pivoted at21 on the frame 10. The rear end of the balancing arm 20 is made with agear 22 which engages the gear 18. The balancing arm 20 is normallydisposed in a horizontal plane when the press is closed as shown in thedrawing and the front. end swings up and down, moving in a directionopposite to that of the head 14. In other words the arms 20 and 15 aregeared together which imparts an opposite direc tion of travel, for itis to be noted that as the press head arm 15 lifts upwardly thebalancing arm 20` moves downwardly. A balancing weight 23 is adjustablymounted on the horizontal balancing arm 20 and preferably placed towardthe forward end thereof so as to obtain as much leverage as possible.through the gears 18 and 22 in order to lift the head 13 or in order tobalance it as the case may be.

One balancing arm shown mounted on the outside of the press frame out ofthe way under the table 11 but it is to be understood that a double setof these arts may be employed, one to each side o the press if flesired.In some forms of pressing machines where the steam piping and otherequipment is carefully arranged to give clearance within the frame it ispossible tov place one arm and Weight inside o the leg frames but incase of .pressing machines lso filled with piping and other equipmentwithin the frame, then the parts 20 and weight 23 are.

,PATENTJ OFFICE.

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may be readily placed outside the frame 10 but .directly underneath theo verhanging table ends and thus be kept out of the way and notinterfere with any other parts of the pressing machine.

The weight or weights 23 are relatively light, not heavy, because theywork throu h a long leverage and the gear ratio of t e gears 18 and 22may if desired be so designed as to further increase the leverage so asto further decrease the weight 23.

A handle is mounted on the head 14 to facilitate drawing the head downmanually b the operator as is usual in pressing Ina-A cli'ines. Anadditional feature tas regards manually operating the press may beincorporated in this machine if desired and to this end another handle26 is made on the front end of the balancing lever` 20. This handle 26comes to rest invits uppermost limited position when the press isclosed,

. coming to rest at a point adjacent the front edge ofthe table 11 whichis convenient and easy for the operator to reach without stoop-J ingdown. While it is true that the handle 26 travels rather far downtowards the-floorl on which the machine is placed as the head 'straig'tene lifts, it"is also true that the operator does not use the handle26 until the head 14 has practically reached contact with the buck 13whereupon any additional power needed to close and lock the press may bereadily obtained by the operatoritaking hold of the handle 26 andlifting upwardly thereon to facilitate tightening the press jawstogether as will be more fully understood after the foot pedal operatingmeans is described.

Any suitable operating means may be used to open and close the'press,that is to raise the head 14 high above the vbuck and close it downthereupon against the work. Motor .means may be used to advantage withthe .points or pins 29 and 33 in order that the past a` toggle point 31may be forced straight line connecting the points 29 and 33 therebycausing the toggle 30-32 to reachl an overstraightened locked osition asshown in the drawing; thus hol ing the head 24 under tight compressionon the buck 13. The handle 26 if lifted sli htly by the operieat y thetoggle 30-32 togroverin bringin ky dlocked position.

the frame and is adapted to be thrust upwardly against the pedal 28 bthe operator. The kick-off pedal 36 causes t e toggle 30- 32 to bebroken to force the toggle pin 31 to swing counterclockwise to brokenposition which permits the weight 23 to act down.- wardly to open thepress thereby bringing all parts into an open position as along thedotted line.

In the operation of the press, the work is spread upon the buck 13 andthe head 14 is drawn down thereupon either by depressing the pedal 28 orby pulling down the handle 25 or by usino' both such means and. inaddition thereto, for finally locking the press, by

'pulling upwardly on the handle 26 if desired to thus facilitate theoperation of the machine. The handle 26 stands in a convenient positionto the operator and is particularly useful in edge pressing machines andother high powered pressing machines which are worked by operators. Inother words some presses are required to produce high compression andyet be worked by operators and in such cases, it materially aids theoperator in finally overcoming the resistance of the toggle pivot pin 31forcing it to move to overstraightened locked position if the operatorwill lift up on the handle 26 at the end of the closing action. It is tobe noted that vwhen the pedal A28 is going down, the handle 26 on thebalancing arm is going up. This arrangement permits the operator tobetter Autilize his physical power with less exertion bysimultaneously'pressing his' foot and lifting up by hand. lThis is amore natural way to exert man power than by attemptin to do all theworkwith the foot only. By Iifting up on the handle 26 the operator worksthrough the ears 18- and 22 to aid in throwing the togg e over to alocked position and Y thereby does not have to jump up and down on thepedal r28 to lock the toggle. By a simple operation of simultaneouslypressing his foot and lifting his/hand the operator more easily and withless exertion closes the press into locked position. A

Man foot power pressing machinesl worke by operators are not required tobe locked at all because of the fact that tailor work or steam valetpressing of clothes requires only a light patting or stroking action ofthe head on the garment and in such case this pressing machine has itstoggle 24 set to such an adjustment that it will not lock and yso theoperator readily causes the head 14 to pat or stroke lightly the work onthebuck 13 and in that case it is not necessary to use the handle/26.

While this invention is explained in connection with foot and handoperated resses, it is to be understood that the ba ancing mechanism isreadily adapted to motor driven presses because the improved balancingmeans is placed under the table out of the way whether forfoot operatedpress or power driven machines.

This improvement provides a press operating means or mechanism ofsuitable kind including the gear transmission 18-92 by which pressopening and `closing motion is imparted to the movable press jaw, and bywhich compression is obtained betweenthe jaws. The press operating meansi-s simple in construction and readily lends itself to the inclusion ofbalancing means such as the transmission.

weight 23 which also works through the gear operatingpress j aws, apivotal arm carrying a movable press jaw, another pivotal arm, a

weight mounted on the second arm to balance the movable press jaw, gearsinterposed between thetwo ar'ms operatively connecting them together,and means to actuate the arms to open and close'the press.

3. A press comprising'in combination, cooperating press jaws, a pivotalarm carrying a movable press jaw, another pivotal arm, a weight mountedon the second arm to balance the movable press jaw, a gear integrallyformed on each pivotal arm and meshing together to cause the armstoswing in opposite directions, and means to actuate the arms to open andclose the press.

4. A press comprising in combination, co-

operating press jaws, a pivotal arm carrying a movable press jaw,another pivotal arm, a weight mounted on the second arm to balance theymovable press jaw, means operatively connecting `together the twopivotal arms, means to actuate the arms to open and close the press, anda handle carried by each arm which handles travel in opposite directionsand adapted to be manually perated if desired by the operator tofacilitate theA operation of the aforesaid'means.

5. A press comprising in combination, cooperating press jaws, a pivotalarm carrying a movable press jaw, another plvotal arm, a

vweight mounted on the second arm to balance the movable press jaw,means operatively connecting together the two pivotal arms, means toactuate the arms to open and close the press, and a handle carried onthe second arm upon which the operator may manually work in conjunctionwith the means to open or close the press.

6. A press comprising in combination, co-

operating press j aws, a pivotal arm carrying a movable press jaw,another pivotal arm, a weight mounted on the second arm to balance themovable press jaw, means operatively connecting together the two pivotalarms, a pedal connected with the aforesaid pivotal arms by which thepress is closed by the operators foot, and a handlecarried by theAsecond arm adapted to be manually operated if desired.

7 A press comprising in combination, a frame, cooperating press jawscomprlsing a head' and buck, a table disposed under the rbuck supportedon the frame, an arm having its rear end pivotally mounted on the frameand reaching horizontally orwardl across the table withJits front endfixed to t e head, a balancing arm horizontally disposed under the tablewith its rear end pivoted on the frame, means operatively connecting thetwo arms together, abalanclng weight mounted on the front end of thelast named arm, and a handle carried on the forward end of the arm underthe table convenient to the operator. l

8. A press "comprising in combination, a frame, cooperating 4press jawscomprising 'a head and buck, atable disposed under' the buck supportedon the frame, an arm having its rear end pivotally mounted on the frameand reaching horizontally forward across PAthe table with its front endfixed to the head,

a balancing arm horizontally disposed under the, table with its rear endpivoted on the frame, means operatively connecting .the two armstogether, a balancing weight mounted on the front end of the last namedarm, a handle carried on the 'forward end of the arm under the tableconvenient to the operator, and foot operated mechanism connected with.the balancing arm to,aid in operating the press.

9. A press frame, cooperating press jaws mounted thereon consisting of amovable head and stationary buck, a handle carried on the head, a swingarm attached at one end to the head and pivoted at other end on frame,an arm pivoted infthe frane, gears connecting the arms together causingthem to move inopposite directions, and a handle fixed on the outer endof the last arm and adapted to swing downwardly as the first namedhandle swings upwardly. e

10. A press comprising in combination, a frame, cooperating press jawsmounted there' on consisting of a movable head and stationary buck, ahandle carried on the head, a swing arm attached at one end to the headand pivoted at other end on frame, an arm pivoted in the frame, gearsconnecting the comprising in cimbination, aV

arms together causing them to move in opposite directions, a handle xedon the outer end of the arm and adapted to swing downupwardly, lockingmeans cooperating with one of the arms to lock the head closed, and aWeight mounted on the arm adjacent the handle Ito balance the head;

1l. A press comprising in combination, a frame, cooperating pressjawsmounted thereon consisting of a movable head and sta-Y tionary buck,a handle carried on the head, a swing arm attached at one end to thehead and pivoted at other end on frame, an-arm pivoted in the frame,gears' connecting the arms together causing them to move in oppositedirections, a balancing weight cooperating with the gears toc'ounterbalance the head, a toggle having one end pivotally connectingwith one of the arms and the other end pivotally attached to the frame,a pedal integrally formed with one of the toggle links, and a handlecarried bythe last named arm to aid in manually locking the toggle asthe pedal is depressed.

12. A press comprising in combination, a frame,' cooperating press jawsmounted thereon consisting of a movable head and stationary buck, ahandle carried on the head, a swing arm attached at one end to the headand pivoted at other end on frame, an arm pivoted in the frame, meansoperatively connecting together the arms, a balancing weight cooperatingwith the aforesaid means to counterbalance the head, a toggle standingvertically with its lower end pivotally attached to the frame and itsupper end c onnected with the last named arm and con-l stituting alocking toggle, and a pedal integral with the lower toggle link.

13. A press comprising, cooperating press jaws, a member connected withone of said jaws and movable to close said jaw on the other, a gearformed on said member, a second gear meshing with said first gear, meanssecured to said second gear tending to rotate -said gear in onedirection to separate the jaws, and means for overcoming said rotatingmeans to rotate said second gear in the opposite direction to causecompression between the jaws.

14. A press comprising, cooperating press jaws, a member connected withone of said .jaws and movable to close said jaw on the other,a gearformed on said member, a sec'-` ond gear meshing with said first gear, aweight connected to and movable with said second gear, and means forrotating said second gear.

15. A press comprising, cooperatin press jaws, a lever supporting one ofsai press jaws, a gear formed on one arm of the lever,

'a second gear meshing with said first gear,

a weight connected to and movable with said second gear, and means forrotatingA said second gear.

In testimony whereof I ax my signature. JAMES CAMRQD LEDBETTER.

